Designer working at the intersection of strategy, sustainability, & physical form
Solair
Solair is a sustainable, solar and ambient light powered personal fan designed for a hotter, more uncertain climate future
Keyshot Render & Animation, Design Research/Strategy, CMF
Course: Design Lab 2
Time frame: 14 Weeks (08.2025)
Professor: Jonathan Abarbanel
*Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored project and not officially affiliated with Snow Peak Company, all logos/images used for nominative, non-commercial, and demonstration purposes only as student work
1) A Clean Energy Strategy
The world keeps getting warmer and
we’re contributing to the problem
with the devices that are supposed to cool us
Even Existing “Sustainable” Fans are
bound to end up in landfils
Bill of materials
Solarpunk:
Solarpunk is the design philosophy for Solair
Future Strategy:
Why Solarpunk Values are relevant today:
Why many people don’t adapt Solar Energy:
So, what would real sustainable personal cooling look like?
Sustainable cooling products exist, but most ask users to spend more, sacrifice convenience, or commit to infrastructure they don't own
Solar adoption fails not because of performance, but because of perceived inconvenience and behavioral friction
Key Insights:
1. People increasingly value energy independence, especially as climate and policy become less stable
2. Sustainable products fail when they demand
a behavioral sacrifice
= convenience is non-negotiable
3. Solar and cooling products are perceived as seasonal, which limits how much people are willing to invest in them
CONCEPT IDEATION & PROTYPING
SOLAIR
2) SUSTAINABLE MATERIALITY
Functional Features
Feedback for Use
Powerfoyle:
Renewable Power with ambient and solar light sources
Brand Alignment
Indoor and Outdoor Use
Benchmark Fan vs Solair
The stakeholders who benefit from Solair’s design:
Making sustainability feel inevitable rather than imposed was the hardest design constraint
If I were to continue this project, I'd prototype the Powerfoyle integration to test whether the energy output works under indoor conditions